


Bring Him To Light

by sinseeker (inperpetualreverie)



Category: J2 - Fandom, Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Aura Reading, Character Death, Dreamsharing, First Time, High School, M/M, Mind Reading, Minor Character Death, Murder, Prophetic Dreams, Prophetic Visions, Supernatural Elements, Suspense, Telepathy, Violence, boys with powers, thought-casting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-18
Updated: 2016-01-14
Packaged: 2018-04-09 22:23:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 7,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4366451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inperpetualreverie/pseuds/sinseeker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jared has been having nightmares since the day he turned sixteen, and when strange things start happening to him - things that can't be explained - he begins to think he's losing his mind. Then he meets Jensen, who seems to be everywhere, and his entire world starts to change.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome to Black Hill

The trees are all half naked in this place.

That’s the first thing Jensen notices from the passenger seat as the headlights bounce off of the “Welcome to Black Hill – Population 4,333” sign on the way to his third new home in just as many years.

The air is different here, too, he thinks. It’s crisp and cool, and it doesn’t taste stale or stagnate at all like the air back home always did. The dry leaves falling from the trees scratch out a song about the season as they skitter across the ground on the heels of the slow-moving car tires.

The light of the moon caresses the pavement, and shadows perform an ominous ballet just outside the corners of his eyes. No matter where he goes, no matter what changes around him, the shadows remain the same. Slowly, a lump begins to form somewhere between his stomach and throat, and for the first time in over a year, he lets the fear creep in.

He closes his eyes and breathes in deep just as his mother’s voice fills his ears.

“This is the place, Jensen. It’s all going to change here. You’ll see.”

“Nothing ever changes, Mother. Not really.”

“Don’t be like that, Jensen Ross. You’re not allowed to be angry with me about this. You know why we keep moving, and if luck is on our side, we might get to stop soon. I know patience isn’t your strong suit, son, but just try, okay?”


	2. Breathless

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the short chapters. Longer ones are on the way!

The thing about people is, they spend so much time talking about the future, thinking about the past, waiting for the time when they think everything will change, that they never really notice the moment it all starts to.

Maybe it’s because most change that people see is gradual. It creeps up on you. It’s like studying yourself in the mirror one day and noticing that the lines pulling at the corners of your eyes have started to become more prominent when you smile like you really mean it.

  
Sometimes, though. Sometimes it’s swift and sharp, and whether it’s good or bad, leaves you broken or blessed, one thing’s for certain, it will always leave you completely breathless.

  
Breathless. Yeah, that’s pretty much how it all began for Jared Padalecki.

Monday morning finds him like every morning has since the day he turned sixteen; before the sun touches the sky, chest heaving, sputtering for air and choking on a sob.

He never remembers the dream, but he knows it’s the same one every time, and something tells him it’s more of a nightmare than anything else. He doesn’t know why he wakes up breathless and terrified, with a cold crawling over his skin that he can feel all the way to his bones – but he has spent enough time watching horror movies and reading science fiction novels to be convinced that something’s coming his way.


	3. The First Day

It’s the first day of school in Black Hill, and for most people Jared’s age, it means starting out the morning with some clichéd mirror speech about how “this will be my year,” but for him, it just means trying to decide whether taking Paranormal Studies is worth being stuck having Mr. Moloch for a teacher.

It feels like Mr. Moloch has been gunning for him since he started teaching here last year. He doesn’t really know why. He basically feels invisible, to students and staff alike, so when the new teacher starts noticing him for no reason at all, it’s a little more than unsettling.

“You’re really gonna take that class, huh? Not really doing anything to improve the whole creepy vibe you got goin’ on, man,” Chad laughed while he stood next to Jared’s locker, staring at katie’s obscenely short skirt across the hall.

Chad’s inappropriate on his best day.

“Shut up. It’s interesting stuff. I just hate being stuck in there with that guy all semester,” Jared complained as he grabbed his Paranormal Studies book. “ I don’t know what his deal is, and I’m gonna be in there alone, too. This does not bode well.”

Obviously he was not going to be the only student in class. When he says ”alone” he generally means without Chad.

“You know, if you stopped saying shit like this does not bode well,” Chad mocked, dropping his voice in an exaggerated attempt to mimic Jared, “you might actually stop repelling the other ninety-nine percent of the student body and make a couple of friends.” “Oh, and you’re gonna be late,” he laughed.

“Fuck!” Jared shouts a little too loudly in the half empty hall, “See you later, Chad. Wish me luck!”

He doesn’t know how it happens. One minute he’s running away from Chad’s hearty laughter while he tries desperately to make it to room 214 before the last bell, and the next he’s in the middle of a deserted hallway, surrounded by the contents that spilled from his arms when he started gasping for air and clutching his chest.

The kind of gasping and clutching that he’s used to waking up to. In the safety of his own bed, still numbed from sleep. Never in public, and never this real.

The air tastes funny. That was the last thought he had before his knees met the cold, hard floor with a crack that shot through the air and bounced off the gray walls, and his world went white.

“The air,” Jared croaks out the second he wakes up in the school’s clinic.

“Relax, kiddo. You’ve just had an asthma attack, your air should be back now, no need to panic.” The school nurse’s voice was sweet, syrupy almost, and thick in his ears, and he couldn’t understand how she could remain so calm when something was obviously very wrong with the air.

“It feels heavy.” Jared wheezed.

“Yeah. You were out for a couple of minutes before Mr. Moloch found you. It’ll probably take a few minutes before your limbs start feeling like themselves again.” 

Before he could think about being rescued by the guy he most dreaded seeing this year, or possibly assault the nurse with accusations of being painfully oblivious to the literal change in the air, he’s got a face full of floppy, blonde hair that’s attached to an obscenely sweaty Chad; his best and only friend who has absolutely no concept of personal space. 

“Yuck. Get offa me, Chad!” 

“Come on, Jay, you know you love it. Smell me, I’m _magnificent_.” The last word leaving Chad’s lips on a whisper, like he was sharing a dark secret.

“You’re disgusting,” Jared breathed with a mocking smirk. 

“Yeah, well, it’s your fault. You almost died while I was in gym. No time for a shower. “ All of the humor left Chad’s face then. “What happened, man? They said they found you in the hall by our lockers. Mr. Moloch kick you out of his class for being late or something?” 

“No, I didn’t even make it to his class,” Jared winced. The first day of the school year isn’t even half way over, and he’s already missed a class. Awesome.

“Yeah, you did. I watched you scramble through the door right after the bell rang. You hit your head or something when you fell?”

“I don’t think so. I feel fine. But I’m certain I never made it to that class, Chad.” 

“Nurse said it was an asthma attack.” 

“I know. But that’s not what it felt like. And I haven’t had an attack in years, you know that.”

“So, what did it feel like?”

“I don’t know. Like someone was trying to crack the sky apart and caught my chest instead. It wasn’t like not being able to catch enough air. It was like something sucked the atmosphere out of that hallway. And right before I hit the ground, man, I swear I tasted something... I don’t know what, but I know it was something that doesn’t belong around here. And it hurt. God knows I’ve felt my share of pain, but this was like a whole new level.” 

“Jesus, Jay, why haven’t they called an ambulance or something? You should be in the fucking hospital!” 

“Calm down. I feel fine now. I just wanna go home, Chad. Take me home.”


	4. Home

Jared doesn’t drive. Doesn’t have to. He only goes two places – school and the public library – and they’re both within walking distance. And his parents are never around to offer to teach him anyway. So he lets Chad drive him home.

“You should ride with me more often. All that walking you do wears me out, man.”

“I like walking. And I think you were supposed to stop back there.”

Chad’s driving style is as erratic as his personality.

“Your parents going to be home tonight?”

“Are they ever?”

Jared’s parents work nights at the hospital, so he spends a lot of time on his own. He doesn’t mind it. He’s gotten used to being home alone. He knows how to take care of himself.

“Want me to hang out? You probably shouldn’t be by yourself.”

Chad spends nearly every day after school at Jared’s, and Jared never minds. It’s an easy friendship. He doesn’t have to put a lot of work into it. They’ve been a part of each other’s lives since third grade when Chad sat next to him at lunch and offered him one of his cookies, then invited himself to spend the night at Jared’s place the following weekend. He hasn’t left his side since, and Jared’s fine with that.

“I think I’m just gonna eat something and go to bed. It’s been a weird day, and I’m just ready for tomorrow to be here already.”

“That’s cool. As long as you’re sure.”

Jared hears the concern in Chad’s voice, but for some reason, he really wants to spend the night by himself.

At the edge town, lined with towering sugar maple trees, sits an old, imposing, two story house built in 1883. With a flat-topped roof mixed with pointy peaks and intricately trimmed, tall, rectangular windows, it’s still shaded in the original color, a sickly pink that Jared thinks resembles Pepto Bismol.

It’s the one house in town that everyone who lives everywhere else dreams of living in. Especially Chad, who calls it The Pink Mammoth.

Jared just calls it home.

Chad slides into the driveway, just barely making the turn, even though he’s made it a million different times.

After Jared reassures him that he’ll be fine by himself, Chad offers him a ride to school the next day. Again.

He politely refuses. Again.

It’s kind of nice that Chad never gives up.

He still feels off when he walks through the front door, but he figures a few hours of marathoning something mind-numbing will make everything okay again. If he doesn’t think about it, it didn’t happen. That’s been his approach since the nightmares began.


	5. New Neighbor

_Someone is screaming. A girl, maybe. And it’s so dark._

_He can’t see anything, but he feels everything. He feels afraid, but he doesn’t think it’s for himself, and it’s getting worse. He can’t think about anything except the ice cold fear, and he can’t breathe._

_The screams get closer. He smells something. Something familiar, but he can’t place it. Everything is so fucking dark._

_And then he sees something. A movement. Just in the corners of his eyes. Shadows, shifting and swallowing everything up._

_The girl screams again, she’s crying out for help, but he can’t find her. He wants to help, he needs to help, but he can’t. He’s paralyzed. Something’s holding him in place, like a hundred pairs of arms pushing down on him._

_He struggles, but he doesn’t get anywhere._

_The screams are right beside him now, if he could just turn his head, he thinks he could see the girl, maybe calm her down._

_He strains to see her, but all he can see is shadow, and something green, like a pair of glowing eyes, watching his every move. One last blood curdling scream, and she’s gone.Ripped away like she was nothing._

Jared sits up, gasping for air, skin still crawling with the feeling of shadowy hands holding him down.

By the time he gets his heart to stop beating out of his chest, he realizes it’s almost midnight, and the entire house has gone dark.

There’s a thump outside, then another. Car doors slamming shut in the quiet of the night, disturbing the peace.

It’s too early for his parents to be home, and his neighbors are never out this late, so he wanders over to the big window seat, facing the empty house next door.

Only, it doesn’t appear to be empty tonight. There’s a black car in the driveway. An older car, kind of dented up. The kind you drive when you can’t really afford to drive anything else. Even in the dark, Jared can tell the thing has seen better days.

He hadn’t heard about anyone buying the house, but that doesn’t mean anything. No one really tells him anything, except Chad, and he stays out of other peoples’ business. It may be a small town, but Jared doesn’t have a small town mentality, like the rest of the people around Black Hill.

If someone new is moving in, in the middle of the night, he’s sure he will hear whispers about it in the halls the next morning.

Jared turns away from the window, ready to head upstairs and try to get some actual sleep before school, but something stops him, dead in his tracks. His heart picks up again, and he turns, slowly, and watches the house next door, with the mystery people going in and out with boxes.

It’s then that he sees what he was afraid of seeing. Someone staring back at him. He sees green. Looking through the window, looking right though _him_ , are a pair of bright green eyes.

Jared can’t breathe. Doesn’t move. Just keeps looking into those eyes as if they have the answers to the questions he hasn’t even asked yet.

Then the green eyes turn away and disappear into the darkened house next door and Jared’s left standing alone, trying to convince himself he was still dreaming, because it’s impossible to notice something like eye color in the dark, from all the way across the street.

It didn’t happen, he thinks. It didn’t happen, and he's not afraid.


	6. Grey Skies And Emerald Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it has been so long since the last update. Love to all of you, and thank you for reading! Comments and/or kudos are inspiring! <3

Morning brings rain and thunder, and Jared feels it like a thick static in the air. As if it weren’t enough that he woke with his mind alight with a million different worries. He remembers pieces of the previous night’s dream. Just pieces, but it’s more than he’s ever remembered before. Then there’s the green-eyed guy next door. Maybe he just imagined the whole thing. His life has been pretty weird lately, and it seems unlikely that lightning would strike twice on the same street. It would be green lightning, he thinks. Everything feels green. He’s going crazy, that’s all.

 

Chad pulls up the drive just as Jared steps out his front door.  He should feel grateful that he has a friend thoughtful enough to stop him from walking to school in such terrible weather, but he just feels irritated. It’s the fucking air, he thinks. It’s clinging to him, making all of his nerves tingle, and it’s not Chad’s fault.

 

“I know you said no, but I’m not letting you walk today. You’d just end up getting sick, then I’d get sick, and it’d be really inconvenient, so just get in already. “ Chad made it sound like Jared was the one doing him a favor. Chad’s just that kind of guy.

 

“Okay, alright, I’m getting in. This weather sucks anyway, and I’m in no mood to get drenched.”

  
“How you feelin’ today?”

 

 _Kind of freaking out about a creepy dream and an even creepier guy with eyes like emeralds, who may or may not have moved into the house next door in the middle of the night,_ he thinks.

 

“I’m okay,” is what comes out of his mouth. “No headache or anything, so I guess that’s good.”

  
Jared does his best to avoid looking at the house next door as they pull away. He just wants a nice, normal day, and he has a feeling that looking would only invite some kind of trouble. Out of sight, out of mind, he thinks as he tries to focus on the screeching metal song blaring out of Chad’s stereo. It’s terrible music, and It’s Jared’s punishment for not hanging out last night. Chad’s always had these quirky little ways of letting Jared know he’s upset with him without actually telling him he’s upset with him.

They don’t say anything to each other on the drive to school, and they both sit quietly in the car once they’ve reached the parking lot – neither of them wanting to break the silence or face the walk into school in the pouring rain.

It’s Jared who speaks first.  
  
“Thanks for picking me up. I probably would’ve been late if you hadn’t.”  Jared may not care all that much about school, but he’s naturally good at it, has perfect attendance, and he’s never been late.

“No problem. You know, your perfect record kind of got ruined yesterday.” 

“Why? I showed up. It was an accident, they can’t count that shit against me.” 

“Nobody’s counting, man,” Chad sighed. “ And besides, it was just the first day. It’s not like you missed anything important.” 

 _Feels like I’m missing something really important, jared thinks._  

“Yeah, you’re probably right. Let’s go get this day over with.” 

The halls are the same, Jared’s lockers are the same, even Katie, with her short skirt and cherry red lips, is hanging out in the same spot this morning, but it all feels different, like everything changed overnight somehow, but he just can’t see it.

 Jared makes it to his first class today, and is instantly greeted by Mr. Moloch’s questioning eyes and a barely – there nod of the head. There’s no mention of what happened yesterday, he doesn’t even ask if Jared’s okay, which might offend him if things didn’t feel so strange today. There’s only one seat left open when he walks in, so he shuffles his way through the room and plops down in the seat in the back row between Sophia and Chris. 

Chris. Chris Kane, captain of the basketball team, doesn’t even acknowledge Jared’s presence.  
  
Nothing new there, Jared thinks.

Sophia on the other hand, can’t seem to stop gawking at him – like he’s the most interesting thing in the world, or some kind of freak. Jared thinks it’s probably the latter. There’s not an interesting thing about him.  

 “Hi”  Sophia finally blurts out, like she can't contain herself any longer. “I’m Sophia.”

“I know,” Jared said, “We’ve basically been in the same classes since kindergarten.”

“Oh. Right. Sorry, what’s your name again?” 

“It’s Jared. Jared Padalecki.”

“Well it’s nice to officially meet you, Jared Padalecki. Again. I guess.”

Jared would have rolled his eyes if Sophia didn’t seem so happy to have his attention. 

“ You weren’t here yesterday.”

 Jared’s surprised anyone noticed his absence. He’s pretty low on the radar around here, and Sophia, well, Sophia Bush is definitely not the low on the radar type. In fact, she’s on _everyone’s_ radar. She's a cheerleader. She’s got long, shiny, dark hair, perfectly tanned skin, and legs that seem to go on forever. Not that Jared notices that sort of thing. Really. And she’s incredibly smart. The smartest in his class, actually. _That_ , he has noticed. Since he’s the second.

“Yeah, something happened. Did I miss much?”

“Not really. We just got our books, and Mr. Moloch gave us a lecture about how we should take this class just as seriously as any of our others. And that just because some of the subject matter is controversial, doesn’t mean we should take it lightly, blah, blah, blah.”

“Well, I’m glad I didn’t miss much, I’ve actually been looking forward to this class. I like to learn about things that most people don’t believe in.” 

“Me too,” Sophia whispered, since class had officially started and the room was quiet. “I’m totally into vampires and ghosts.”   

“Mr. Padalecki, Ms. Bush, if you two are ready," Mr. Moloch bellowed, "let us all turn to page one. Today we are going to discuss thought-casting, or telepathy, and the type of people often associated with it.”

Sophia offered to share her book with Jared since he forgot his, then she smiled, like they were sharing some kind of secret. He smiled back, because he sort of felt like they were.

 

 

 


	7. Strange And Strangers

 

Tuesday afternoons at the library have becomes Jared’s favorite thing. He loves the smell of the place. The books, the furniture, the feeling in the air, it’s like a second home to him. He loves to get comfortable in one of the oversized chairs and lose himself in a book for hours at a time. 

Danneel works on Tuesdays, and she always teases him about his reading choices. “You’re a freak, Padalecki. This paranormal crap isn’t real.” 

 He knows it’s innocent teasing, though, so he lets her get by with it. He likes her. He doesn’t know if they’re friends or not, but apart from Chad, he supposes she’s the closest thing he’s got to one.

 It’s still raining after school, so Chad insists on bringing him, and though he usually complains about how much Jared needs to get a life outside of the library, he’s complaining less today. Jared thinks it has something to do with the way Chad can’t seem to take his eyes off of Danneel.

 Danneel is short, feisty, and beautiful, with flaming red hair and porcelain skin. She’s always perfectly made up, with smoky eyeshadow, highlighted cheek bones, and pink, glossy lips. Jared wonders how long it takes her to get ready in the mornings.

 Jared’s about five pages deep into a book about dreams and their meanings when Chad nudges him with a pointy elbow. “Dude, what’s her deal? Is she single?”

 “I have no idea.” He really doesn’t. He’s never bothered to ask. It’s not really any of his business. She’s always been awfully flirty, but he thinks that’s just part of her personality, and doesn’t necessarily mean anything.

“She’s hot, man. How have you never even asked?” Chad looks baffled.

“I don’t know. She’s nice to me. We talk about books. I’m not really interested in anything else.”  Jared was content with the way things were between him and Danneel. It was nice. She was nice, and she made him feel comfortable in one of his favorite places.

“So you’d be okay with me asking her out?” Chad asked, rocking back and forth on his heels.

“Sure, give it a shot if you want.”

It’s not that Jared hasn’t noticed how attractive Danneel is, it’s just that he’s not attracted _to_ her. It’s nothing personal, she just doesn’t do it for him. In fact, he’s never really met anyone who has. Maybe he’s a freak after all, he thinks. All of the other guys his age are all about girls, and dating, and partying, and all he cares about is reading and watching TV .

He’s rounding the sci-fi section, nose still buried in his book, when he runs into someone. Hard. And his book goes flying to the ground. This someone has light brown hair, a smattering of freckles across his nose and cheeks, and the most beautiful, piercing eyes that Jared’s ever seen. Green. Really green. That’s all he can think about as he splutters out an apology.

 “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, I wasn’t paying attention. Are you okay?” It all comes tumbling out of his mouth so fast, the guy in front of him almost looks surprised. Jared feels like an idiot. And he can’t stop looking at those eyes. They seem familiar somehow.

 “Yeah, relax, I’m fine,” the guy replies, as he bends down to pick up Jared’s book. “The Secret Behind Your Dreams, huh?” he looks Jared up and down, assessing. “Must have been reading something interesting.”

 “I’ve been having nightmares.” Jared blurts out without thinking. To a complete stranger. Smooth, he thinks. Really smooth.

 “Yeah? You think you’ll find the meaning behind them in that thing?”

 “I don’t really know. Maybe. I hope so,” Jared replies.

 The guy keeps looking at Jared. He’s starting to feel scrutinized.

 “You’re tall,” the guy says, like he’s just noticing.

 “You’ve got green eyes,” Jared replies, since they’re both obviously just stating facts now. _Like emeralds, he thinks_. Suddenly his heart starts beating faster.

 “You got a name, tall guy?”

 “I’m Jared”

 “Just Jared?”

 “Padalecki. Jared Padalecki.”

 “That’s a mouth full,” the guy smirks. “I’m Jensen”

 “Just Jensen?” Jared raises an eyebrow, half mocking, half actually interested in a last name.

 “Yeah, just Jensen.” Those green eyes seem to sparkle.

 “You come here often?” Jensen asks.

“Every Tuesday” Jared says, matter of factly.

“I’ll keep that in mind, Jared Padalecki. Have a nice evening. And no more nightmares, okay?”

Jared watches Jensen saunter away, not taking his eyes off him until he disappears around the corner. He’s never met anyone named Jensen, but there’s something about the guy. Something so fucking familiar, and Jared has a feeling he hasn’t seen the last of him.

By the time Chad finds Jared again, he’s all but forgotten about dreams and meanings and the entire reason he came to the library in the first place. He feels like he’s missing something. Something important.

“She’s single,” Chad says, bouncing around Jared.

“What?” Jared asks, confused.

“Danneel. She’s single. And I think she’s into me.”

“You think everyone is into you.”

“That’s because they are,” chad says, smugly. “I mean, c’mon, look at me.”

“I am looking at you, and you’re practically doing a happy dance. Did you ask her out?”

“No way. Not yet. I’m going to woo her, Jay-Man.”

“Woo her?” Jared laughs. “Could you be more lame?”

“Not lame, man. Brilliant. Just you watch. I think Tuesdays are going to be my favorite days. We’re gonna be library buddies.” Chad puts an arm around Jared and leads him toward the exit.

Great, Jared thinks. Could this day get any weirder?


	8. The New Neighbor

Jared wakes up the next day slowly, with no nightmare remnants at all. There’s a song playing in his head. Piano music, light and tranquil, and it feels like someone’s playing just for him, to calm him and wake him gently. It’s so nice that he doesn’t even bother to stop and worry about why it feels like someone’s playing the piano right next to him.

 He showers quickly, and grabs a granola bar for breakfast before he heads out the front door. He looks up for just a second at the house across the street, and he sees him. He sees Jensen, who raises an eyebrow at him and waves, kind of like he’s been standing outside just waiting for Jared to appear on his front porch.

Jared waves back because it’d be impolite to ignore the guy.

“Hey nightmare boy,” Jensen calls out. “Did you sleep well last night?”

Jared’s feet seem to have a mind of their own, because he’s suddenly  walking toward Jensen without having made a conscious decision to do so.

 “Hey, just Jensen, and yeah, I think I did,” Jared calls back.

“Guess we’re neighbors, huh?” Jensen asks.

 “Guess so,” Jared replies. “You moved in pretty late the other night.”

 “Yeah, we do that. Keeps prying eyes away. Well, most prying eyes.” He smirks.

 “You vampires or something?” Jared laughs. Jensen doesn’t.

 “You believe in vampires, Jared Padalecki?”

 “I believe in a lot of things.”

 “Ah, so you’re open to all things paranormal then?”

 “I like to think there’s more out there than just being human.”

“Being human too boring for your taste, Jared?”

 “A bit, yeah. My human existence is pretty boring.” Jared sighs

 “I’m willing to bet there’s more to you than you realize.” Jensen smiles, like he knows something Jared doesn’t.

 “If we keep running into each other like this, maybe you’ll get to find out.” Jared grins.

 “Oh, I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot of each other. We’re neighbors now. We can do neighborly things together.”

 “Right. Okay then,” Jared runs a hand through his still wet hair. “Well, Just Jensen, I have to get to school. You coming?”

 “Nah. I’m sort of home schooled.”

 “Oh. Well, see you later, then.”

 “Okay, Jared.”

 

\---

 Jared slides into his seat next to Sophia right as the bell rings, and she’s already smiling at him, like she’s got something really important to say.

 “Your hair is still wet,” she says.

 Jared laughs and feels completely at ease for the first time in a long time.

 “If we have to do a group project, we’re totally gonna be partners, right?” Sophia asks, practically bouncing in her seat.

 “Of course. You’re probably the only one in here who’d actually want to partner with me anyway.”

 “You should think better of yourself, Jared. I can tell you have a lot to offer. I can sense things about people.”

 “Sure you can,” Jared almost giggles.

 “I can! I totally can. It’s why I’m so drawn to you. You’ve got a great aura.”

 “Oh yeah? What color is my aura, then?”

 Sophia stares right through Jared for a few seconds before she finally answers.

 “Green. It’s green.”

 Jared’s breath catches in his throat, and he tries to say something in return, but he can’t. He can’t say anything. He can only picture freckles and beautiful green eyes.


	9. Chapter 9

Saturday night, Jared and Chad are binge watching The Lord Of The Rings movies, both of them sprawled out on either ends of the couch. Jared is in an exceptionally good mood so he doesn’t even complain when Chad interrupts the movie every ten minutes to ask random questions about Danneel.

“What’s her favorite color?” Chad asks around a mouthful of pizza.

“Don’t know. I’ve never asked. I told you, man. All we talk about is books. And sometimes, dogs. She really likes dogs.”

Chad sighs and rolls his eyes. “You’re no help at all.”

They go back to watching the movie. These are Jared’s favorite movies. He could watch them every day. Chad doesn’t really see the appeal, but Chad has horrible taste in everything, so it’s really no surprise that he doesn’t recognize quality video content when he sees it. Jared’s surprised that Chad actually makes it twenty more minutes before opening his mouth.

“So what’s going on with you and Sophia?”

“Nothing.” Jared’s not lying. He doesn’t even know if they’re really considered friends, so how could there be anything going on?

“That’s not what I hear.” Chad says, grinning.

“What do you hear?”

Jared hates gossip, but he asks anyway, because he can’t help himself. He’s only sort of paying attention to the conversation anyway. Gandalf is talking on screen. Gandalf is his favorite character. He likes the idea of being a wizard. Wizards have powers. He kind of wishes they were real.

“I hear that the two of you are getting awfully cozy in Mr. Moloch’s class.”

Jared doesn’t really think that cozy is the right word to describe whatever friendship he has with Sophia, but he shrugs anyway.

“She’s nice to me.” Is all he says.

“She’s hot.” Chad responds.

Chad thinks that anything in a skirt is hot.

“Yeah, I guess if you’re into that sort of thing.” Jared half laughs.

“What do you mean if you’re into that sort of thing? She’s a CHEARLEADER.”

Chad’s emphasis on the word cheerleader suggests to Jared that Chad must think it might actually mean something to him. It doesn’t. And Jared doesn’t say anything, just goes back to watching the movie. After a few minutes he feels Chad’s eyes on him.

“What sort of thing are you into?” Chad asks quietly.

Jared breathes deep. Exhales slowly. He guesses he’s always figured someone would ask sooner or later and he really wishes he could come up with something better to say than _I have no idea_. Suddenly an image of Jensen’s face pops into Jared’s head and he manages to say “Green eyes. I guess I like green eyes.”

Chad nods, but stays quiet, which is really unlike Chad, but Jared’s still kind of shaken from the question, so he just goes with it and tries to focus on the movie again. They stay like that for a while, and Jared figures Chad must have gotten back into the movie as well, so he’s a little startled when Chad suddenly asks, “on a guy?”

“What on a guy?” Jared asks, trying to avoid answering the real question.

“You said you like green eyes. Do you like them on a guy?”

Jared opens his mouth to speak. Shuts it again, and with a furrowed brow, breathes out a “maybe.”

The expression on Chad’s face doesn’t change. He doesn’t look shocked or weirded out at all. And more importantly, Jared thinks, he isn’t getting up to leave. He just pops another garlic knot into his mouth, chews twice with his mouth open – a terrible habit of his – and simply says, “okay,” like it’s no big deal. Like Jared didn’t just tell him that he might be into guys.

Jared thinks Chad deserves a Good Friend Of The Year award.

\---

_There’s blood on the ground. There’s blood on his hands and someone next to him is screaming._

Jared wakes with a scream still ringing in his ears. He remembers blood and darkness. Always darkness. He feels like he’s being watched. There’s a tickle on the back of his neck and a sense that he’s not alone in the room. He’d almost venture as far as to think there’s someone inside his head. But that would just be fucking pushing it, wouldn’t it? The nightmares are one thing, but having someone inside your head is a whole other mess he doesn’t even want to think about. He’s been reading about thought-casting, but he’s not entirely sure it could even be possible, and if it were, why the hell would anyone want to be inside _his_ head of all places? It’s boring in there.

As much as he hates the idea of moving from the safety of his own bed, he gets up to switch on the light anyway. Just to be sure, if only to calm his nerves.

It’s nights like this he wishes his parents had a normal daytime schedule. He certainly enjoys the freedom of being alone most of the time, but sometimes, especially at night, his big old house feels a little too empty. It’d just be comforting to know that his family were downstairs, in their own beds, in case he might need them.

“You’re being a baby, Padalecki,” he chides himself aloud. “Lots of people have parents who work nights, so suck it up.”

When he starts to feel safe again, he wanders over to his window, draws the shades, and glances across the street at Jensen’s house where a solitary window is lit up. He sees movement in the window, but nothing distinguishable, nothing to tell him whether or not it’s Jensen moving around in that room. But he knows. Somehow he just knows it’s him anyway. He wonders what Jensen’s doing up so late, and suddenly he wishes that he’d gotten his phone number or something. Chad doesn’t take well to be woken up in the middle of the night, and Jared thinks that tonight, at this very moment, he’d like to talk to someone other than himself.

He doesn’t even bother to try going back to sleep, and every time he walks past a window, a glance next door tells him that Jensen isn’t sleeping either. He wishes he had the nerve to just go over and knock on the door. But they don’t know each other like that yet, and the rest of Jensen’s family might be sleeping. If he has any. He’s only ever seen Jensen at that house, but he guesses that really doesn’t mean anything. There could be ten people living there for all he knows, and he just doesn’t think talking to Jensen tonight is worth the risk of waking them all up.

But screw going back to sleep. He’d rather be dead tired in the morning than risk dealing with anymore bad dreams tonight. He considers skipping class the next day, but he figures being around people is better than being alone with his thoughts.


	10. Chapter 10

Jared gets to school early. He sulks through the quiet halls, shuffling his feet in that annoying way Chad used to do on days he knew he had to drive Jared to the library. Chad doesn’t do it anymore. Not since he started talking to Danneel, and Jared kind of misses it. It’s just a little thing, something he shouldn’t have even noticed, but now he has and there’s nothing he can do about it.

He’s in a shitty mood. Things feel off and he doesn’t want to be here. He considers, more than once, turning around and walking back home. But he doesn’t, because he’s already here, and he might as well get it over with.

He doesn’t bother to wait for Chad by his locker like he usually does. It will still be a good twenty minutes before he even pulls his beat up car into the parking lot anyway. It has nothing at all to do with the feet shuffling thing, and it definitely isn’t because a part of Jared is still worried that Chad will have changed his mind and freaked out about his best friend maybe being gay. Which is pretty unfair to Chad, Jared supposes. Chad is a good friend, always has been. But he’s been oddly unmoved by Jared’s big revelation. Jared thought the whole thing at least deserved some kind of reaction, but there was just… nothing. Like it doesn’t matter at all and everything is still as normal as ever.  
It’s almost as if Chad already knew before Jared told him.  
What if he did? What if the asshole knew the whole time and was just waiting for Jared to figure it out for himself? That’s what a good friend would do, isn’t it? Jared huffs. The walk to school has given him entirely too much time to think. And he really doesn’t want to be here. 

He makes his way to class, finds his regular seat and plops down, acutely aware of all the noise he’s making in the empty classroom. He sighs and pulls his book from his bag. Everyone else must be at least two chapters ahead of him by now and he’s pretty sure that Mr. Moloch mentioned something about a quiz today.

He’s been too preoccupied lately to keep up with school. The nightmares are becoming more intense, he wakes up feeling like there’s something he’s supposed to be doing, and he has a sickening feeling in his gut that something bad is going to happen. Call it intuition, call it the creeps, call it whatever the fuck you want, he just knows something’s wrong and hasn’t got the slightest idea what it might be. 

And then there’s Jensen. The thing is, he hasn’t told anyone about him. He’s not even sure if there’s anything yet to tell, but it feels like keeping a secret, and apart from Jared’s ever increasing nightmare activity, he doesn’t keep secrets from Chad. And he’s starting to feel a little guilty about it.  
So he can’t exactly talk to anyone about the fact that Jensen’s been missing for three days. Not that he’s counting. And maybe he’s not even actually missing. It’s just that Jared’s noticed his absence the past few mornings. What’s he supposed to think? The guy has greeted Jared every single morning before school since the day after they met at the library, and he sometimes comes over at night after Chad leaves. 

Now he’s nowhere to be seen. 

Jared opens his front door every morning expecting a wave, a smile, a snarky comment on his outfit of choice – he basically wears the same jeans and hoodie every day – or a simple “How are the nightmares?” But he’s met with nothing but the sun. Jensen’s house has even been dark at night. 

That’s another thing they share. Restless nights and lit up bedroom windows on opposite sides of the street. Jared knows it sounds stupid, but when he wakes up from a nightmare and he sees Jensen’s light on, he feels less alone. 

Maybe they’re on vacation. Maybe someone died. Maybe they’re just the kind of people who up and disappear for a while, it’s not like Jared would know. Hell, he still doesn’t even know how many people there are in that house. He’s never asked. He and Jensen just talk a lot about nothing, and it’s usually Jensen doing most of the talking. 

But when they’re standing outside, shoulder to shoulder, or sitting on Jared’s front porch, knees pressed together, just sharing the same space, like it’s something they’ve done forever, it feels like a whole lot of something.

He hopes Jensen is okay. 

Maybe tonight he’ll tell Chad about him.

He turns his attention to his book. They’re still studying thought casting, which Jared finds pretty interesting. Thought casting, as far as he’s read, is an ability of The Unbounded. The Unbounded are immortal and possess varying abilities such as dream sharing, aura reading, and thought casting. They’re incredibly rare. So rare, in fact, that it’s about the only thing that Jared doesn’t really believe in. He’s always believed in all sorts of things. His entire book collection is made up of folklore and paranormal stuff. When he was young he was even convinced that his mother was psychic, because she always seemed to know when he’d done something wrong before he could look guilty about it. But something about The Unbounded just seem so unbelievable that he’s never really bothered to learn much about them until now.

And while reading, he finds himself wondering for the second time in the past couple of weeks, if such a thing could possibly exist. It’d be strange to be able to get inside someone’s head, but It’d be pretty cool to have a conversation without actually talking. It’d be particularly nice for sharing secrets. Kind of like how he and Chad invented their own language back in fifth grade, only infinitely cooler. 

Jared is so lost in his own thoughts that he doesn’t even notice Mr. Moloch come in. It’s not until he gets that niggling feeling – the very same one he’s been getting so often lately – of someone watching him, that he looks up.  
Mr. Moloch is sitting at his desk, staring intently at Jared, not saying a word. He looks like he’s had a rough night. There are dark circles under his eyes, and a fresh bandage wrapped around his forearm, which he covers with his shirtsleeve when he sees Jared notice. 

Jared’s never been alone with this guy before, and he’d prefer it would not be happening now. Or ever. 

He shifts in his seat, beginning to feel uncomfortable. Mr. Moloch isn’t just staring, Jared thinks. He’s assessing, and Jared wonders what it is that he sees. He’s suddenly overwhelmed with the feeling that he needs to run. To get anywhere else. Anywhere away from Mr. Moloch. Which is stupid, Jared tells himself. He’s a teacher, and everyone else seems to think he’s okay, so he tries to squash the feeling. 

Before Jared can open his mouth to say good morning or something, if for no other reason than to cut through the awkward silence, Mr. Moloch tilts his head to the right, meets Jared’s eyes and asks, “How are you finding the reading, Mr. Padalecki?”

Jared nervously licks his lips. 

“To be honest, sir, I’m a little behind on the reading.”

Mr. Moloch raises an eyebrow.

“Really? I’ve been told you’re usually an excellent student. Is anything wrong?”

Only everything, Jared thinks. But he’s not about to go blabbing about it. Not to anyone who might tell his parents. They’d just get all concerned and work themselves up into a frenzy trying to switch shifts with people so they can keep an eye on him.

“No, sir, and I’m not really that far behind,” Jared lies, “and what I’ve read so far is very interesting.”

Mr. Moloch doesn’t break eye contact.

“Mmm. Have you reached the part about the signs and symptoms of those thought to be Unbounded?”

Jared lowers his head and rubs at the back of his neck. He hasn’t reached that part. Of course he hasn’t. He’s been too fucking busy trying to figure his life out.

“Signs and symptoms?” Jared sort of laughs. 

Mr. Moloch doesn’t seem to find it funny.

“But,” Jared goes on, “it’s all just theoretical, right? I mean, there’s no way to list symptoms for something that might not even exist, right?”

The look on Mr. Moloch’s face makes Jared instantly want to retract everything he’d just said. 

“So you’re not a believer, then?” Mr. Moloch asks, getting up from his desk.

Jared feels frozen. He just knows that any minute now, Mr. Moloch is going to walk over to him and start circling his desk, like Jared’s some kind of prey. Maybe he should’ve listened to his gut earlier. 

“Well, no. Well,” Jared bumbles, “I mean, it would be totally awesome if The Unbounded were real. I guess. It’d be cool to be something more than human.”

Mr. Moloch laughs at that.

“The Unbounded do exist.”

“Okay.” Jared says doubtfully. He wants to believe. He really does. But he’s never met anyone Unbounded, and he doesn’t know anyone who has. Not that any of that has ever stopped him from believing in vampires or werewolves, and when the hell did he become so closed-minded?

“And you don’t have to be more than human to possess some of the abilities of The Unbounded, Jared. There have been reports across the globe of ordinary people, just like you and me, who can do extraordinary things. Things that are certainly of a much smaller-scale than an Unbounded, but still remarkable for someone human.”

Jared wasn’t aware of that. He doubts it’s even in the book. Sophia would have mentioned it. She believes enough for the both of them, and she’s convinced she just knows things sometimes. Like how she knew she and Jared would get along brilliantly because of the color of his aura. 

“Yeah?” Jared perks up a little. “I didn’t know that it was possible for humans to have abilities.”

“Well, as humans, we are very limited. But it does happen, once in a while, that one of us will develop an ability. We call those humans Transcendents.”

Jared wants to hear more. 

“Thought-casting,” Mr. Moloch continues, “is the most common ability that develops among Transcendents.”

Jared opens his mouth to ask about a thousand questions, but Mr. Moloch holds up a hand and points to the bell above the door about a half a second before it rings. Jared hadn’t even noticed the rest of the class milling in throughout their conversation.

When Sophia finally bounces into the room with a giant smile on her face, Jared wonders for a second if she really can see people’s auras. He smiles back, laughs a little as she slings herself into the seat next to him, and makes a promise to himself that he’ll catch up on his reading tonight. 

Right after he tells Chad about Jensen.


End file.
